I've been researching cameras off and on for about a 8 months now and have narrowed it down to these 3.

I know that I like the Sony because of faster continus shooting and smooth focusing while shooting movie. But the canon and nikon are appealing because I know the lens option is much more vast. Other than that they seem close in specs & comparison. The reviews on them were both excellent and highly recommended.

Do you think ILC will gain ground and become more accessory heavy? Or is it a good replacement for standard DSLR?

Maybe wait for a possible Canon T4i?

I while back I had a Nikon D70s and I'm looking to upgrade. I don't have a studio or anything and this would just be used to shoot family shots or recreational shooting. Any tips or advice is greatly appreciated. I know a lot of questions, sorry!!

If by ILC you're talking about the "compact system cameras" like cameras with the Micro Four-Thirds sensor bodies or Sony's NEX series, I'm sure they'll gain ground though they're limited by their lenses right now.

You probably shouldn't look at them as like for like replacements for a DSLR. Though not mutually exclusive, both systems have advantages and disadvantages over each other.

You can take the "grass is greener..." approach and wait for the 600D's successor but perhaps you should ask yourself what is critically absent or lacking in the three cameras you initially proposed, particularly the DSLRs that you think the 650D (presumably) will have. Newer doesn't necessarily mean better, especially if you don't use or benefit from what's newer. In terms of image quality, you'd probably be better off with a slightly older body and using the money you saved to go towards a sharper or faster lens unless there's a specific feature on a more expensive body that you feel is beneficial and that you'd make use of frequently.

Whatever options you consider, it's always worth holding them in your hands. Cold, hard technical specs don't tell you much about what the camera's like to hold or how ergonomic it feels.

Thanks for the tips!!! Great advice!! With that line of thinking I might look more closely at the 550D/T2i and invest in a sharper lens. Although the swivel feature of the display for the 600D/T3i looks pretty useful.

Since the T2i and T3i both use the same sensor, other than a few gadgets (tilty-swivelly-screen and 3x movie crop mode in 1080p for the t3i instead of 7x in 480p for the t2i), their performance is basically identical. Their price, however, is sometimes so close that it might be worth going for the t3i (if it's like 50$ more).

The T4i is rumored to be announced in June, with yet another 18mp sensor (no one knows if it's a new 18mp sensor, or the old one), 9 cross-point AF points, which could be interesting, touchscreen LCD, and continuous AF in live mode and movie mode.

I'm not too convinced at a first generation LCD touchscreen, usually best to wait a generation or two on those things before manufacturers actually find some good use for it. The rest seems interesting, though.

If focusing during video and fast frame rates are something important to you, but you also want a DSLR type body with phase-detect AF and better buffer size and focus performance, you also might consider the Sony "SLT" models, which are essentially like DSLRs but with fixed mirrors rather than moving ones. Large bodies, built-in stabilization, phase-detect AF, and also capable of using full phase-detect autofocus during video. They also have tilting LCD screens and lag-free live view when using the LCD to shoot. Cheaper models from the A33, A55, A57...and mid-grade type models like the A65 and A77 can be considered.

I shoot with a traditional DSLR (Sony A580) and a NEX-5N - I like the advantages each type of camera gives me and find them complimentary to eachother. I don't think I'd try to fully replace my DSLR with a mirrorless camera just yet, but they share image-quality and the mirrorless can keep up with the DSLR for many types of shots...the NEX wins on size and portability, while the DSLR is still the better tool for sports/action/wildlife tracking and burst shooting.